1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speed monitoring system for motor vehicles, and more particularly, to such a system that cross-references the position and speed of a vehicle with mapping software for a predetermined area where the vehicle is traveling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many designs for vehicle position reporting systems have been designed in the past. None of them, however, include the features of the claimed invention, in particular the cross-referencing of the position and speed with predetermined characteristics or conditions associated with the area where the vehicle is located in order to alert the user whether predetermined conditions have been reached or exceeded.
The present invention uses mapping software to mark or delineate predetermined areas with an area overlay software. One of these mapping software programs is Street and Trips published by Microsoft Corp. These marked areas are coded with different parameters, i.e. speed, time, day of the week, etc., for the different streets and highways. A user or subscriber to the system, programs it using a friendly user interface to his/her needs. If the preset parameters or alarms are exceeded, a signal is generated that could selectively activate an alarm signal inside or transmitted outside the vehicle for further processing.
For instance, if a vehicle is traveling in a school zone its speed is expected to be below a predetermined limit. If the vehicle is traveling at a certain time of the day in a certain direction, it is expected to go slow and thus a delay is justified. It can be readily seen that the applications for the present invention are numerous. A parent can be notified via a built-in recorder, or live through a transmitter inside the vehicle when his/her teenager son/daughter has exceeded the speed limit in a given area or zone beyond certain territorial limits. Or a fleet manager can monitor the driving habits of the drivers he/she is responsible for.
Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,013 issued to McBurney on Jan, 4, 2000 for Vehicle Position Reporting in User Defined Uni-Dimensional Coordinate System. The patented system provides position information of a vehicle, like the present invention. However, it differs from the present invention because it does not include a cross-reference to the area where the vehicle is traveling to trigger alarms or other signals.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.
It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide a system for alerting a user as to whether a vehicle utilizing the present invention is used outside a set of predetermined conditions or limits with reference to the geographical area where the vehicle is traveling.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system that records the time and date when a driver violated one or more of the predetermined conditions.
It is another object of this invention to provide a system that transmits the driver""s violations to a remote unit.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a device that is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain while retaining its effectiveness.
Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.